Kuina
by Journey Me
Summary: Because angst!Zoro is the best. Slight ZoroKuina.


_I think the fate of Kuina was kinda iffy. Unless I missed it, they never outright said Kuina died in the dub, just that she would never be able to hold a sword again or something along those lines. Any and all mistakes are my own.  
_

**Disclaimer: All rights reserved to Eiichiro Oda and Toei Animation. **

_I'm going to become the greatest swords master ever!_

Of course a child's dream and an adult's reality are vastly different. Too bad it took him twenty years to find that out. Twenty long years of defeating every swords master still existing and every new one popping up. Thankfully, now that swords were quickly becoming obsolete as guns were easier to load and keep with you; there weren't many demands for a swords master. It also meant that while he still held the title of greatest swords master, he was quickly becoming legend instead of fact.

Thirty-three and back from wandering the world in search of a challenge, Zoro looked at his childhood town. Then, it had been small but still slightly prosperous with a small port for trade. It now looked like nothing but a shanty town full of drunks and the old left to rot. Zoro cautiously made his way to the crumbling dojo near the tree line, the forest now no more than a few sparse trees. He supposed it was an attempt at industrialization to save the failing town. Walking through the dust filled streets, he wondered. Zoro wasn't a man prone to misgivings, but even he couldn't hope _she _was still here.

_Let's make a promise. One day, one of us will be the greatest swords master. _

He'd heard her father had moved several years ago to another port town miles away. He hadn'theard news of _her _though. He'd heard rumors of her marrying a blacksmith and later opening a dojo of her own under his name. The world wasn't ready for a woman owning a dojo. He hoped it was true, the dojo, not her marrying. Like most couples, you couldn't have one without the other. Zoro had been afraid that she would never be able to live up to her own potential, and maybe she hadn't, but she at least was able to make a difference in the world she loved the most, swordsmanship.

_What's the matter, can't you beat a girl?_

Zoro squinted at the crooked sign proclaiming "Ramfield's Dojo". Sidestepping various debris in the doorway, he entered the rundown building. Like most places left in the ghost town, its interior was crumbling with rotting and water stains covering the walls. This one seemed to have been lived in not long ago. If his nose wasn't deceiving him, someone had eaten very recently. Zoro stepped to the left as a wooden sword came barreling from behind him. Obviously, he had interrupted dinner.

"What do you want?" A surprisingly young irritated voice inquired. Zoro studied the little boy breathing heavily in front of him. He had the same eyes as her.

He didn't say anything for a moment and he could tell the silence unnerved the child as he tightened his grip on the sword fractionally. "I said, what do you want?"

"I don't suppose you're the owner of this establishment are you?"

Zoro grinned at the momentary shock that crossed the boys face. Finally those piercing eyes stopped glaring at him. "She died." The tip of his sword rested on the floor now as the little boy scrutinized the intruder. "A long time ago. She said you would come, eventually."

Zoro closed his eyes as he listened to the truth. A small part of him wanted to hear that she was still alive. That she had just moved back with her father because the pig of a man she married died. Life was often never that simple. "How do you know it's me she was talking about?"

The little boy gave him a hesitant smile, his dirty cheeks dimpling. "Momma said a man with three swords would come one day and that I should listen to what he has to say."

A son. She had a son. That was living in an empty town waiting for him.

"What's your name?" His voice seemed weaker, he thought with little care. Kuina's son was looking at him like his dream had come true.

"Noah."

_No one gets in the way of my destiny. _

Noah stood at the cemetery entrance, a small pack hanging limply from his shoulder. Zoro paid no attention to the boy as he sat in front of her grave. He sat for a long time saying nothing, just staring at her name in the stone. It seemed so final now.

She wasn't just going to pop out suddenly and challenge him to a duel. Because she'd have to beat him now to be the best. She'd never look at him with hard eyes that concealed the fondness she held deep down. She wouldn't ever get to see him use her sword again. Kuina was gone and had been gone and he never got to tell her in person. He never broke their promise.

He let his chin rest on his chest while he spoke quietly, reverently. "I did it Kuina. I beat them all. I'm the best. But you couldn't even stay around long enough for me to do it!" Zoro's fist punched the earth she was trapped in. "You couldn't let me tell you in person, I have to tell your grave. Well I did it." He choked on the harsh words he wanted to tack on the end, but the only person he'd hurt was himself. _No thanks to you._

"All thanks to you."

_I'll never be the best, because I'm a girl._

"She said that she knew you would do it all along, because no one that has spirit like that ever quits." Noah paused to wipe at a few tears in his eyes. "She wanted you to know she's glad that her sword could help even if she couldn't."

Zoro said nothing again to the boy. They made their way out of the empty town, in search of Kuina's father.

_You did more than you know. _


End file.
